California Governor Signs Election Law Ahead of June Primary

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Wednesday that limits when law enforcement officers may handle ballots or voter rolls. The law requires a court order for most actions and bars interference except during urgent public safety threats. The bill also makes it a crime to remove ballots from official custody without authorization.

Penalties include fines up to $1,000, prison terms of up to three years, or both.

For mail ballots, the statute prohibits election observers from challenging signatures that do not match registration records. The California Attorney General must issue guidance on law enforcement entry into ballot-processing areas. The measure responds to a recent incident in Riverside County in which ballots were seized after a local group reported discrepancies in a 2025 special election tally.

"We've seen an incident in my own home county of Riverside where ballots were seized and the chain of custody was broken," state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes said in a statement. "SB-73 puts in protections to ensure that ballots will be secure." Newsom said the law addresses what he described as a pattern of federal requests for state voter data and efforts to restrict mail voting.

A Brennan Center study updated this week found the Justice Department has sought election records from nearly every state and Washington, D.C. The government has sued 30 states and D.C. for noncompliance; several suits have been dismissed. The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized 2020 ballots in Georgia in January.

Records were also obtained from Arizona, and similar attempts were reported in Nevada. Early voting has begun, with about 10 percent of ballots cast, according to the California Secretary of State's Office.